Category Archives: Book Review

Everything about the bestseller Welcome to Night Vale is unsettling. The very texture of the gorgeous twilight-colored hardback cover is too smooth. The raised letters of the title are almost slimy against the ridges of my fingers, as if written with the white tentacles of Night Vale’s Librarians themselves. Frankly, this first introduction, this simple act of touching is enough to prepare you for the exceptionally weird experience you’re about to embark on.Continue reading Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor→

The Country of Vordan is sitting on a precipice, ready to descend into a state of panic at any moment. The king is on his deathbed, leaving his daughter Raesinia Orboan to succeed. The malignant Duke Orlanko, who has gained a reputation as the most feared and powerful man in the kingdom as minister of information and master of the secret police, believes the princess weak-willed and therefore seeks to manipulate her from behind the scenes. Finding herself trapped within Orlanko’s grasp, she seeks allies in the form of recent war hero Janus bet Vhalnich and his company who are returning from the colony of Khandar. Winter Ihernglass, now answering directly to Vhalnich who is the only person who knows she is actually a woman, finds herself returning to the home she ran away from years ago. Marcus d’Ivoire also has his own reasons to dread his return to the city, with a fresh memory of a burning estate and the end of life as he knew it so many years ago. Together, under orders from Vhalnich, they seek to free the Princess from under Orlanko’s grip, and give the nation the leader it so desperately needs. Doing this, however, might cause more short term damage to the kingdom than anything else.Continue reading The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler→

Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase, a follow-up to the original Alice In Wonderland children’s book, provided an adventurous and comical story weaved together with teen romance. As someone who knew little about Alice in Wonderland, the novel felt welcoming. In Chase’s queer fantasy novel, the Mad Hatter is tasked with the duty to escort Henry, Alice’s younger brother, across Wonderland on a journey to the Red Queen’s castle to return Henry home. At least that’s what Henry was told.Continue reading Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase→

It’s a regular habit of mine to find my foot in my mouth with the taste of a rubber sole leaving a grimace on my face. Let’s be clear; I never intend the wrong thing, and I try very hard to scrub my language of any offensive terms or terminology that I am unclear of, trying to correct any wrongdoing before it can occur. That said, no one is perfect, and often my ignorance leads me through a few dark tunnels before I find the light.Continue reading The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley→

Jayde Brooks’ debut fantasy trilogy, Daughter of Gods and Shadows was an emotional roller coaster ride of anger and intrigue. Many personal expectations diverse fantasy races and well thought out villain held were never met. But that didn’t stop Brooks from surpassing the expectation that her novel would feature a heroine as the only person of color through her outstanding implementation of diversity.Continue reading Daughter of Gods and Shadows by Jayde Brooks→

Reading The Errant Princeis like drinking a cup of hot chocolate in front of a fire, wrapped up in a blanket in the dead of winter: it’s simply an all-around pleasant experience. While we often judge books on their complexity of themes, characters, allusions, plots, etc, there’s something to be said for a quick little tale that doesn’t demand a migraine through the course of its storytelling. I picked up Sasha L. Miller’s queer fantasy romance novella on a rainy day when I had very little to do but lay in bed and read along with the patter of raindrops against my window; it was all very romantic, I assure you. All settled in and bundled up, I decided to approach the love story of Myron and Tamsen.Continue reading The Errant Prince by Sasha L. Miller→

People often say never to judge a book by its cover, but in the literal sense, that’s exactly what I do. Its the best feeling in the world when I pick out something at a book store with a cool book cover and an amazing story to boot. I proudly own an entire bookshelf dedicated to great fantasy novels, and the whole thing looks amazing. A Crown for Cold Silverby Alex Marshall is the latest edition to said amazing bookshelf. With a strong female protagonist set in a wonderfully dark and humorous fantasy world, ACrown for Cold Silver is something you can read in public and be richly entertained at the same time. Its win-win I’d say. Continue reading A Crown For Cold SIlver By Alex Marshall→